


Story time

by lwise2019



Series: Mikkel's Story [28]
Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:21:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22808539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lwise2019/pseuds/lwise2019
Summary: Mikkel tries to find out what happened, our favorite troll-hunter tries out her latest tale, and Lalli finally awakens.
Series: Mikkel's Story [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1536739
Kudos: 9





	Story time

Mikkel, Tuuri, and Reynir were up early, as was their wont. Emil slept in, as was _his_ wont. Sigrun, on the other hand, slept most unwontedly late, and Lalli, of course, remained … asleep.

“Tuuri, what happened back there? With the … ghosts?”

> I didn't really see anything. I mean, I can't see ghosts anyway. But you fell, and Sigrun, and Reynir fell to his knees, and the kitty wet herself…
> 
> It was so scary – you both falling down like that – that I just started driving. I thought we were all going to die. The ghosts didn't come until the sun was setting, so I thought it would be best to just drive toward the sun. Keep the sun shining on me as long as I could, I mean. I didn't know what would happen when it set.
> 
> Reynir was talking to the ghosts, begging them to please go away, and the kitty was yowling, and then Reynir said something strange. It was like he was telling someone, 'I need help!' And then I – heard – it was almost like I heard my brother talking. I couldn't quite make out what he said. Just his voice. It made me feel so safe, even then … and there was something like a flash and a crash … oh, it's hard to explain because I didn't really see it or hear it. I _felt_ it inside me. And then you were all waking up again and Sigrun was yelling at me.

Of all of this, Mikkel knew for sure that he and Sigrun had collapsed and that the kitten had left a puddle on the floor. In the turmoil of the escape, it seemed everyone had stepped in it and tracked it around. He would not have believed that one little kitten could produce enough urine to contaminate so much of the tank. The rest of it, though … a flash that she didn't really see, and her brother's voice that she didn't really hear…

He wasn't a superstitious Finn. He didn't believe in magic or ghosts. But _something_ had certainly happened. He had collapsed, Sigrun and Emil had collapsed, and he'd heard that … _voice_ … but like Tuuri, he couldn't make out what it said. Maybe it was one of those voices that you shouldn't listen to, like the voices in the static. But no, that was silly. And yet – _something_ had happened.

“Reynir, tell me about the ghosts.”

“You … don't believe in ghosts.”

“Maybe not. But I want to know what happened. Tell me what you saw.”

> They came – the ghosts. They don't look like, um, people. Just shadows of people, I think. But they have eyes that look at you with such hatred …
> 
> Okay, yes, the ghosts came. They came in the tank and I told them to go away. Like Sigrun said I should, I told them to go away. Only they didn't go. They were – I see things differently sometimes. In my dreams – I dream here in the Silent World – I see things differently. It's a field like at home and there're sheep, and there's my dog … he was there with me and the ghosts were like, like, like a giant spider, reaching down on us. Reaching down on _you_. I knew they would suck the life out of you – out of all of us – if I didn't somehow make them go away …
> 
> So I thought of Onni. He's the only other mage I know. I met him in my dreams. So I thought of him and I told him, “I need help!”
> 
> The ghosts were closing in, pressing down, I knew we were all doomed, and then _he_ came. Onni. It was like he was this giant owl, ripping the ghosts up with his claws – talons? – only I knew it was him, and he chanted something, and there was this lightning and thunder, and the ghosts were just thrown away from us. And he flew away into the light.
> 
> Then I kind of … came back into the world, and you and Sigrun were waking up.

Mikkel sat back, frowning. There were points of agreement between Tuuri and Reynir. _Something_ had happened, but what? Did he really have to believe in ghosts?

After a moment he shook his head, baffled, and went to get the mop. He needed to clean the tank.

After mopping up the mess from the previous night, Mikkel tugged experimentally at the little scout's blanket and was rewarded with a grumble and the other rolling away from him clutching the covers.

_So he's no worse. Still, it's been a day and half. More, even. I've got to do **something** , but what? That miserable excuse for a first aid kit lacks any 'stay-awake' drugs, even if they'd work, which I don't know. Emil couldn't wake him up by shaking him, though there was all that craziness going on … Maybe shaking would still work. I've thought of dragging him out and slapping him awake, but he's no soldier; that'd be like child abuse. And I really doubt Tuuri'd stand for me beating her cousin._

_But then what? Is it worse to just leave him like this? Tuuri's no help; she says it's a mage thing and she isn't a mage … wait! Her brother! Isn't **he** supposed to be a mage? Whatever this is, if it's something that 'mages' suffer, or maybe just Lalli suffers now and then, surely Onni will know something about it. And he's in Sweden, I can talk to him! After breakfast, I'll get **him** to help me.”_

With that resolve, Mikkel turned to Sigrun, studying her face as she slept. _Color is good … breathing is even … I should check her temperature, feel her forehead, but no, that would wake her up. Best if she sleeps. That wound though, it needs cleaning. I'll bet she pulled out some stitches too. I should have done something about it last night but she was so tired and so cold … Well, something else to deal with after breakfast._

Turning away, he quietly gathered his cooking materials and climbed out of the tank. The other two, who had been talking softly in the front compartment, immediately tried to follow him but were waved back until he had circled the tank completely, studying the snow around them.

“All clear,” he told them, and they piled gratefully out of the tank and into the clean, cold air.

Quiet as they had all tried to be, they had awakened Emil, who came out yawning and stretching but set to work at once on his accustomed tasks, digging a latrine, gathering firewood, and dragging the hose over to a little stream so as to refill their water tank. Mikkel took escort duty for the latrine, sparing Emil's blushes, and afterward set to work chopping vegetables for their unpleasant breakfast. Given the trauma of the previous evening, he decided to throw in a can of tuna fish. Maybe even two.

Chopping industriously, he glanced over at Emil, standing beside him and watching the two non-immunes playing with the kitten. “Emil, tell me what happened last night.”

“But … you know. I mean, you were there ...”

“I know what I … experienced, but I don't know what _you_ experienced. So tell me.”

“Uh ...”

“Start with Lalli screaming.”

“Okay. Uh. He was choking – or sounded like it – so I yelled at you and then he started screaming. I _did_ try to shake him awake, but he just … grabbed at me. Like a drowning man. He pulled my _hair!_ And then he banged my head into the bunk. See this bruise? And it won't turn into face cancer so don't even try!” That last was said with a broad smile, and Mikkel knew he was forgiven. More soberly, “I guess he knocked me out … but didn't you and Sigrun fall down?”

“We did. Go on.”

> I passed out or, or something. I couldn't see anything – it was all dark or maybe gray, I'm not sure – but I heard the roaring of a huge fire. I thought the whole city was burning and I was trapped in the tank, baking alive … it was awful!
> 
> And then I woke up, I guess. Sigrun was yelling at Tuuri and we were driving off somewhere – well, you know this part.
> 
> We ran into that thing – 
> 
> A “biped”? That's what it's called?
> 
> Okay, we ran into the biped troll and then we got stopped by those tentacles. I thought we could burn them out of the way so I brought my flamethrower. I do understand why Sigrun didn't let me burn them, I do. She thought it'd take too much fuel – though it _wouldn't_ – and, yeah, a fire like that would attract a lot of wandering grosslings.
> 
> Anyway, Sigrun sent me to guard the rear, and pretty soon one of the biped trolls showed up, and a lot more behind him. It. I wanted to put it out of its misery and its brain was right _there_ where I could see it – ugh! – but I'd have to shoot and that'd have alerted everything. I didn't really want to burn it alive – I mean, I _did_ , but I didn't _want_ to.
> 
> Well, I didn't have much choice. It kicked at me, tried to skewer me with that spike on its foot, so I gave it a shot of flame. Just one! You can look at the fuel if you don't believe me!
> 
> I wish I'd got some of that goo, though. It's a _great_ accelerant! The flame went right up its leg and then its, um, head caught, and the poor thing was staggering around and bumped into a couple of others, and _they_ caught fire and bumped into others and pretty soon they're all stumbling around on fire!
> 
> It would've been funny if they weren't all screaming like that.
> 
> So they all charged at me and I ran back to the tank, only the tank was gone and it was just you two and that big troll coming up behind you.
> 
> And Sigrun! I don't think I'll ever be a real troll-hunter like her. She knew they'd fight, and she just looked impatient, like she wanted them to just fight and get it over with. And they did!
> 
> Me, I thought we were all going to die.
> 
> Thank you for helping me when I tripped, by the way.

Mikkel digested this information silently, scraping the vegetables into his pot and opening a can of tuna fish.

“What about you, Mikkel? I mean, you fell down ...”

> I also experienced a period of darkness and loud noise. I have some experience with burning buildings and I think I would have recognized the sound of a large fire. It wasn't that. I thought it was a voice.
> 
> No, I don't know what it said. It was so loud that I couldn't understand it at all. It just … hurt …
> 
> And then I woke up on the floor with a puddle from the kitten next to my hand. Sigrun was already getting up, and you were stirring at least. Lalli was quiet again.
> 
> So, the tentacles. They all seemed dead – they mostly _were_ dead – until I hit one that wasn't. When I chopped into a live tentacle, the troll woke up, yanked its tentacles back, and dragged Sigrun into the water. I tried to pull her out with a rope, but it knocked her off and she swam away to a stair with it flailing away at her the whole way. She climbed up and it climbed up after her. It's just as well, I suppose, that Sigrun had us chopping the thing instead of letting you burn it, because when the troll climbed out, it would probably have been bad if it was hitting us with flaming tentacles.
> 
> We were going to run back your direction, and that's when you came running up with your flaming friends.

For some reason he found himself disinclined to describe the events in his usual detail.

It was at this point that the captain herself climbed out of the tank to join them. “Hey, Mikkel, this bandage is going to need some work!” Since it was hanging half off and stained with fresh blood, the medic readily agreed and ducked into the tank for their limited first aid kit. It was already low on bandages and, checking them, he rather grimly supposed that he'd soon be tearing up sheets for the purpose. But that was a problem for a later day, and he climbed back out with fresh supplies including sutures as it was clear he would need to repair his stitchwork.

“Oy, you two! You missed all the fun!” Tuuri and Reynir came over to her at once, their faces showing their doubt about her definition of “fun”.

> So me and Mikkel fell down when the ghosts attacked. That was a really weird feeling, like I was under a waterfall and it was roaring down and just hammering away at me. But then it stopped, just like that. I don't know what happened there so it's not part of the story.
> 
> Anyway, I woke up and little fuzzy-head, here, was getting us out of range of the ghosts just as fast as the old tank could carry us. She just ran right over that funny long-legged …
> 
> “Bipod”? No? “Biped”? Okay, Mikkel calls it a biped troll, and he knows because he's a scientist.
> 
> It's _my_ story and I'll tell it _my_ way!
> 
> Tuuri runs over the biped troll – crunch! – and just keeps going. We see these railroad tracks and Mikkel says to just follow them since none of this is scouted 'cause our dumb scout's been out of it for days.
> 
> Okay, Tuuri, it's a mage thing and I shouldn't complain. Won't complain. On with the story!
> 
> The tracks lead us right to where this water troll's got its tentacles all over the road, and if that isn't enough, some more of those biped trolls are back there somewhere. Along with anything that might have woke up as we went by, so we're not going back, we're going through!
> 
> Mikkel starts chopping into it, and it's dead, right? Not a twitch out of it. I'm chopping too, and my little viking pal is rear guard with his flamethrower. We're almost through when it's suddenly not so dead as we believed.
> 
> The big guy chops into this tentacle and everything that isn't dead jerks back into the canal, and takes me with it! Well, ol' Mikkel's big enough and strong enough to pull me out, so he grabs a rope and gets to pulling. That's when I told you to get out of there, Tuuri. No sense having you two hanging around while I'm hanging around …
> 
> Ha! Got you to laugh!
> 
> But the water troll doesn't give up that easy! It wouldn't be a challenge if they just gave up, would it? So it knocks me off the rope and keeps whacking at me and trying to drown me. I finally just swim away to a ladder and climb out. And my buddy's over there throwing chunks of the street at it! Splash! Crash! It was great!
> 
> Then the thing climbs right up after me, tears the ladder right off but not before it gets up on the street. Okay, we're going to run back the other way, detour a block, and just bypass it, let it get stranded somewhere and die. Or not. I mean, who cares?
> 
> But here comes my favorite Cleanser with a whole _pack_ of them biped trolls all on fire and all chasing after him! So we can't go that way, and we can't get by the big one! Doomed!
> 
> And then the water troll starts whacking at the burning-up trolls instead of us! Fire and water, what do you think!? Mikkel's a spoilsport, he won't let us stay and watch the fight, so we run away while the trolls are distracted.
> 
> Who won? Water always wins over fire in the end, everyone knows _that._
> 
> But the big dumb water troll crawls after us until it gets stuck, and then we just keep going to the tank.
> 
> The end.
> 
> Man, the gang back home is going to be so sorry they missed this vacation!

By the time she finished her rendition of the previous night's events, Mikkel had her arm disinfected, stitched up, and bandaged. Giving him a grateful look, she eased her arm away, much less animated now that she'd finished the story. The small audience applauded, Reynir somewhat behind the others as he had to wait for Tuuri's translation to finish. It would be a good tale to tell on long winter nights in the troll-hunters' hall, and it had certainly lightened the mood with the whole team.

No longer raptly listening to Sigrun, Tuuri held up the kitten. “We really ought to name her. I mean, she's part of the team; we can't keep calling her 'the kitten'. She's been really helpful, too. Even without any training, she warned us about the troll that went after Reynir and bit Sigrun too. So she needs a name that's cute, but also great. And a bit intimidating too, maybe?”

“How about 'Gräddnos'?” Emil proposed. “I think it'd fit her well. A classic name for a classy cat.”

“No, stop,” Sigrun objected. “The cat will _not_ get some dumb Swedish name!”

“It was just a suggestion,” Emil replied easily, almost impervious to offense. “I'm trying to get the ideas ball rolling here. And I don't hear anyone else coming up with better names ...”

The subject of the discussion yawned extravagantly.

“Are there any good multinational cat names?” Tuuri enquired practically.

“I'd say 'Magnus',” Mikkel put in. “A proper name for any good cat.”

> There was always a cat named 'Magnus' at the Madsen home. According to family legend, the first Magnus had saved the life of Mikkel's great-grandfather Michael Madsen, and led to Michael's meeting his wife, Signe, a stewardess on the Bornholm ferry. Michael was taking the cat to Bornholm to stay with his sister while Michael travelled on business, and the three of them – Michael, Signe, and Magnus – all ended up trapped in the relative safety of Bornholm when borders began to be closed all over the world in a fruitless effort to stop the Rash. 

“No, dumb,” Sigrun shot it down. “Also it's a boy name.”

Shrugging, Mikkel concentrated on stirring for a moment until a shadow on the pot caught his attention. Lalli, on his feet and fully dressed, stood before him staring doubtfully at the mess intended for breakfast.

“Oh! You're awake at last,” the surprised Dane stated somewhat foolishly, both because it was obviously true and because the little Finn wouldn't understand a word of it. Mikkel turned his head, started to call for Tuuri, and saw Lalli simply walk away. Mouth still open, Mikkel could think of nothing to say but, “Don't wander too far, the food is almost ready.”

_He's been out for the better part of two days. He'll want some serious privacy to take care of, well, personal matters for a few minutes. He's immune and an experienced scout; he won't get in any trouble around here. Let him be. I can tell the others after he's had some time to recover. I'll need to feed him up some though, and make sure he drinks enough ..._

“This whole discussion is dumb,” Sigrun said, “It's a kitten. I'm going to keep calling it 'Pusekatt.'”

“You know,” the Icelander commented, having been filled in on the discussion by Tuuri, “after all this time I probably couldn't stop calling her kitty. Hi, little 'Kisa'!”

“'Kisu',” Tuuri corrected.

“'Kissekatt'.” That was Emil's proposal.

“'Missekat',” Mikkel offered, spooning up some of the food substance, letting it dribble back into the pot, and grimacing. “Time for breakfast.”


End file.
